Michael Zwaagstra: Ontario Should Crack Down on Excessive Screen Time in Schools

Syda Productions/Shutterstock

Commentary

At a recent news conference, Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra said the Ford government may soon ban cellphones entirely from government public and separate schools. If it does, it would be a step in the right direction.

While Ontario currently has limited phone restrictions in place, the loopholes are so big you can drive a truck through them. For example, students in Grade 6 and under may only use phones at school with the permission of a teacher, which of course means students in these grades can use phones if their teacher allows it. This creates enormous pressure on teachers, particularly those who struggle with classroom management.

It’s even worse in grades 7 to 12, since the so-called phone “ban” applies only to classrooms. Even then, phone use is at the discretion of the teacher. In other words, students are free to use their phones all day in class if they can pressure their teachers into allowing it. All it takes is one teacher who wishes to ingratiate himself with his students.

Clearly, the current restrictions aren’t strong enough. If Minister Calandra is serious about cracking down on excessive phone use, he must make the ban on phones in government school classrooms and hallways universal. The only exception should be for medical purposes (e.g. monitoring blood sugar levels). Otherwise, students should leave their phones at home or in their lockers.

Research is clear—phones aren’t only a distraction when they’re being actively used. Just having a phone nearby affects the concentration level of students. Every moment students spend thinking about what might be happening on their phones is a moment that isn’t used to engage with the academic content taught in school.

Moreover, excessive screen time is harmful to learning, regardless of screen type. So schools should seriously reconsider the wisdom of providing electronic devices to students.

Indeed, it’s now increasingly common for school districts to provide electronic devices such as iPads and Chromebooks to students. Some school districts, notably the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), even implemented an official 1:1 student device program intended, over time, to provide all students in Grade 5 and up with a personal electronic device.

While the TDSB officially ended this program in the 2025/26 school year for Grade 5 students, it will continue to support the program for students (who had previously opted in ) in grades 6 to 12. This means most middle years and high school students in TDSB spend large chunks of their day staring at computer screens provided by the school district.

Even more concerning is the excessive use of electronic devices at the K–4 grade levels. Research is clear that students learn more when they learn to write by hand than when they type on a keyboard. Similarly, students are more likely to understand what they read when they see it on paper than when they read it on a screen.

Thus, while banning phones in schools is an important first step, it’s not a sufficient step. Minister Calandra should issue a clear directive that K–4 students should have no screen time in class except for very limited exceptions. Not only would this be good for the education of students, it would also save school districts a significant amount of money because technology is expensive.

Meanwhile, the minister should enact firm guidelines that limit screen time at grades 5 to 8, and allow it under some circumstances in grades 9 to 12. Clearly, it’s not unreasonable for high school students to use a computer to type their essays, but this should not lead to excessive screen time.

Minister Calandra has an opportunity to make a significant change for the better in Ontario government public and separate schools. Banning phones entirely and severely restricting the use of school-issued electronic devices are the next logical steps. Anything we can do to reduce the amount of time students spend looking at screens will benefit them in the long run.

Michael Zwaagstra is a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.